Guest Post - *2 Writings* by Taylor Terzek from In Pursuit
What a blessing social networking sites can be! The below was found upon from the In Pursuit Tumblr page. Not on Tumblr? Then check out Taylor via Facebook, Twitter or Google+. May God continue to bless you Taylor, as you seek to spread knowledge and love in His name; and crave to know Him more and more with every passing moment!
Decision Making
and God’s Will
The
imperative foundation for making life decisions: the only thing we are
perceptively in control of is our love for God and His purposes. Be free of
selfish ambition and self-centeredness; then we have a proper frame of mind to
respond God’s will. We think that God owes it to us to show us, but the
scriptures reveal that despite the burden placed in our hearts, the normal
practice is for God to hide the path as to reveal your priorities. Dig some
ditches for God to fill with rain; Make plans, but make them in pencil. God has
every authority. He directs your steps.
Wait vs. Work
I love my Minor
Prophets class at Liberty University. These thoughts must be credited to Dr.
Fowler; he undoubtedly is an enlightened man of God.
Some
background info here: The Hebrews were looking for their temple to be rebuilt
as Cyrus had decreed. With Cyrus’ death, and Cambyses’, the heir to Cyrus, lack
of interest in the Jews well being, the Jews were led to take matters into
their own hand. They sent a letter to Darius, who took the throne after
Cambyses, and asked for him to institute the lost decree of Cyrus to rebuild
the temple.
1 In the
second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word
of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
2“Thus says the LORD of hosts,
‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the
LORD to be rebuilt.” ’ ”
3Then the word of the LORD came by
Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 “Is it time for you yourselves to
dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD
of hosts, “Consider your ways!
6“You have sown much, but harvest
little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there
is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough;
and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
7Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Consider your ways!
8“Go up to the mountains, bring
wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,”
says the LORD.
Haggai 1:1-8
The issue is
this: the Hebrews have a misconstrued eschatology. They have adopted the notion
that the proper response to the eschaton, God’s plan, is to wait. It is
imperative that we realize part of the human response to the eschaton is to
work.
It is a
misunderstanding of how God works. Everyone knows God can open doors, but there
should be no hindrance in waiting for God to open them. Their logic is not
unreasonable; it is just artificial. In Hebrew, the word “wait” is active not
passive, in the sense of pursue. It is a faith word that acts, not a faith word
that sits. We must take initiative to bring about the blessings of God: dig a
ditch, wet some wood, cut some timber.
What were
they waiting for? What was hindering them from building the temple? So often we
get wrapped up in waiting for God, when God is simply waiting on us to get up
and do something! I know that carries odd theological implications, but that is
not the point; it is the perception we carry. We talk about missions; we talk
about the will of God; but what good is our future for God if we aren’t
presently living for God?
We are the
remnant. We are the ones who care about our faith, but that does not make us
unsusceptible; we put our things in front of the things of God just as much as
the next sinful human being. The reason we do not do courageous things, is
because we are afraid. We are ruled by our fears; we are frozen by the unknown.
So go into the mountains and cut timber. Do no be afraid; God is with you.
Build God’s house.
SiC <3
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